The Fate of A Shooting Star: Unveiling the Impossible
by ImpossibleImpact
Summary: Chapter 1 of FASS story: For Aulora, returning to Jasper, Nevada isn't just simply re-opening old wounds. It's bringing her back to her family she left behind so many years ago; back to Team Prime. And as she rejoins the Autobots, her world is catapulted off balance by the loss of a dear friend, and the discovery of an innate power very much alive.
1. Begining

p class="MsoNormal" The sleek Mercedes came to a stop, delicately landing on the pavement below, as if it knew it wasn't staying for long. All the neighbors quietly peaked their heads around their long curtains and through their windows to get a small glimpse at the new family that moved into the Stevenson's old condo. Though the Stevenson's had moved to a senior living complex down in Florida, and had not left a substantial legacy for the house's new residents, this was Jasper Nevada. Someone foolishly willing to move into Jasper was a rare occurrence, and had gained the full and daunting attention of the whole town./p  
p class="MsoNormal" The neighborhood quickly withdrew its breath and held it tight within their throat as a rear door opened. A pair of slender legs swung out of the back and jumped out onto the sidewalk. A beautiful girl, ripe within her teenage years stretched her arms out and straightened her body, readjusting her muscles, rigid from the long trip there. Her curly, light brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, that rested over of her shoulder, with baby hairs that scattered the sides of her face. She wore a dark-green khaki jacket, with light, skinny jeans that were hurriedly tucked into her knee high, caramel boots. She had a one-shoulder back pack slung over back, her ear phones dangling from an open pocket. Her eyes were intoxicatingly pale blue, her irises enveloping the sandy terrain around her. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" A tall, middle-aged man, adorned in a crisp suit and tie came to stand next to her, carrying two luggage bags with him. "Are you sure this is where you would like to live, Ms. McAllister?" the tall man asked, giving the condo another, unapproved, glance over. "I'm sure, Joseph. And, it's a cute neighborhood, too," the young girl commented, gesturing to the surrounding houses. "Very well, Ms. McAllister. Just remember that your uncle's San Francisco villa is always there," he stated. The young girl couldn't help but giggle. The two let out a large, built-up sigh. "Well here are your bags," placing the two bags by the girl, "and your uncle will arrive here soon," he pronounced. "Right, like that's going to happen," the young girl replied, sarcastically, rolling her eyes. The tall man kneeled down, and placed his hands upon her shoulders, looking at her face with strong, sympathetic eyes "Ms. McAllister, you know your uncle cares about you and would do anything for you." "Hmmm…if it simply involves handing over a credit card," the girl mumbled. The man gave a saddened smile and lightly kissed the top of her forehead before straightening up from the ground. "Good luck, Ms. McAllister. Please do stay in touch," he said, as he made his way back to the car. "Joseph?" the girl said, turning back around to look at him. "Yes, Ms. McAllister?" "Thank you…for everything," she said, giving him a warm smile. He nodded with a smile. "I wish you well, Ms. McAllister. And if you should ever need help, or still require a fresh pot of raspberry tea, you know where to find me," he replied./p  
p class="MsoNormal" And with that, the tall man slightly bowed to the young girl and stepped into the car, driving it back onto the hot pavement and out of sight. The girl turned back to the house, and stood there for a while, taking it all in. The tan condo rested on the top of a slight hill, its black shutters and window flower pots giving a friendlier feel. However, another glance down at the sandy lawn, with a few brown weeds trying desperately to survive in the dry atmosphere earned another sigh from the teenager and a small snicker. Jasper never changed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She picked up her luggage and made her way up the stone path to her front door. She stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind her. The entrance of the house was located just before the staircase to the attic and the hallways to the kitchen. She dropped the bags at the front door and walked around the empty, empty house, for what it seemed to be the tenth time. She took mental note of the walls she would have to repaint, knowing that an unending sea of deep red was going to start annoying her, if it wasn't already./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She peaked down at her small, leather watch; 6:30. If her memory still served her right, rush hour was down and the small Rout 32 highway, Jasper's only connection to the outside world, was practically empty. She plopped her backpack down on the floor, a echo resonating through the empty, house of solitude. She unzipped its first pocket and brought out a pair of worn out yellow skates. The yellow paint had faded, the shoe laces were frayed and the wheels had lost their blue hint and were now simply transparent. They were respectively worn out, to say the least. Locking the front door behind her, the young girl threw off her boots and dug her feet into the skates, fitting easily into the molded soles./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She quickly tied up the laces and jumped down to the bottom step with ease, immediately taking off down the street. She could already see, at the end of her road, the small on ramp to Route 32. Though it wasn't exactly an on ramp, being the fact that Route 32's speed limit was 50 mph, it was the closest thing to a highway Jasper was able to have. A large smile played across the young girl's freckled cheeks as her legs fell into the familiar, back-and-forth rhythm, the sound of her roller blades gliding across the road playing like an old CD track. She had now made it out to the deserted highway. That's all Jasper ever was; empty. An empty condo, an empty road, and an empty wanna-be highway. The large, straight road seemed to continue for miles, and yet not a car in sight./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Warmed by the glowing evening sun, the teenager simply continued gliding down the road, a familiar emptiness settling into her heart. She could feel tears prick the sides of her eyes as she stared up at the golden sun, furiously blinking and tucking them back into the folds of her eyelids./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Her blurry eyes turned back to the road, watching as the light played off of the bottle caps and beer bottles that were scattered along the side. One particular bottle seem to cast this electrifying swirl of blues and greens, that seemed to twist and turn like the inside of a tornado. It was amazingly beautiful. She slowed her blades to a stop before the bottle's illusion of light and lowered herself down to it. Curiosity grabbed her fingers and pulled them down to the light, searching for the solid ground beneath it. But it never came. She realized this too late, as her searching fingers dangled lower than ground level, the distribution of weight pulling her down into it. She screamed out loud to the blue and green walls that seem to dance with magic as she fell down into the hole, the daunting weightlessness tugging at her frayed nerves and empty stomach. Her slender fingers grabbed the air frantically, searching for something solid, but all they brushed upon was fast moving air. Suddenly, her feather like body crashed down hard upon solid ground, her lungs exploding with a fierce cry of pain as her side impacted with foreign rock. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" She let her body lay there, helpless on the ground as she stared up at her surroundings. The sky above her was painted with the most dangerous of greys and blacks, the sun itself hidden by a circle of complete black, simply outlined with a ring of a deathly, dark red. Below the hidden sun was an eerie edifice of rocks, climbing against each other to form a large volcano. From its center, she watched completely awe-struck as balls of flaming, purple rock erupted from its center and spewed themselves across the sky, like ghastly stars. The air itself was laced thick with smoke and reeked of something fowl. Suddenly, a pair of moving objects caught the young girl's eyes at the foot of the volcano. She could barely make out two large masses, engaged deep within, what appeared to be, a battle of some sort. A grey mass, clad with spiky clothing and sickly purple eyes stood proud and resolute upon another mass, held down to the ground by the sheer weight of the other. The mass on the ground was clothed in bright blue and red material, as it stared up at a flaming sword held high above his head./p  
p class="MsoNormal" After squinting her eyes, the girl suddenly reeled back in shock. The two masses were robots of some sort. They were in no way human, though their beastly size should have been the first indicator. And she could feel tears trickle down her cheeks as a thought suddenly hit her; this was a death match. And the one on the ground was going to die. "NO!" Complete and utter horror dropped like a weight in her stomach when she realized the scream came from her mouth. Both heads turned to look at the small girl that had appeared. Suddenly, the large, grey one came to her side with great speed and grabbed her arms in his hand, his face adorned with a sinister smile, rich with victory. He looked to watch as the other being stumbled up to them, weakly dragging his damaged body with it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" "Put the human down, Megatron!" The girl shivered as goose bumps traveled along her body from the sheer power and brilliance behind the red and blue being's voice. Though torn and beaten, the being gave no inclination it was hurt. The young girl's eyes suddenly scrunched with hesitation. Megatron? Though an uncommon name, there was something that was struck in her mind by that name. Her eyes suddenly flew open with realization. Megatron…Cliffjumper. It all came reeling back to her at full speed, the red robot's smile flashing across her eyes, sweet memories. Turning to look back up at the blue and red mech, her mind began filling in the holes. Optimus Prime. That was the name of the robot in front of her, or rather the Autobot leader. And her stomach sank as she realized that she was being held captive by the Lord of Darkness himself./p  
p class="MsoNormal" "But Optimus, don't you remember her? This is Lorelei's little niece," Megatron sneered, peering down at her. He tightened his grip around her arms and she gave out a small yelp of protest. Optimus squinted his eyes, looking at her, his battle mask hiding any emotion that could've been playing across his face at that moment. His pure blue eyes suddenly lit up in realization. "She's grown hasn't she," Megatron observed. "Let go of me you freak!" she called out, trying to weasel and kick her way out of his grip. "Megatron, do not be foolish. It's me you want, not Aulora!" he yelled back. She smiled at the sound of her name. He remembered her as well. "Oh but, Optimus, it is her I want. I was the one who brought her here," he sneered. His voice was so sickening and disgusting, like a slimy nails scratching down a piece of metal. She continued to wriggle against his grip./p  
p class="MsoNormal" "You see, Optimus, Cliffjumper was aware of this Dark Energeon volcano, and had mention this topic to the little pest," giving her a little shake, "This volcano's mantle holds an ample amount of Dark Energeon that was placed here by Unicron, himself, millions of years ago. But, he poisoned the Energeon, and would burn the armor of whomever touched. Well, there was one and only one way in counteracting this poison, and Cliffjumper is the only bot, that I know of, that knew of this formula. This formula could stabilize the toxic and allow the Dark Energon for use," he said, smiling evilly at his accomplishment./p  
p class="MsoNormal" "And my very reliable intel states that she now carries it. So, bug, shall we do this the easy way or the hard way?" he asked, peering down at her. She internally sighed with relief when she felt the familiar necklace brush upon her chest, underneath her shirt. If Megatron had seen it, he would've simply pulled it off of her neck. Cliffjumper warned her to guard it with her life. That the solution inside was more powerful than Megatron, or anybody, thought possible. She looked up in his face and scowled. "You're never going to get it, Megatron," I yelled. Megatron just smiled. "Wrong choice," he sneered./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She yelped with surprise as she felt her body lower only feet from the ground, where a small pool of rich, purple lava lay. He pinched her arms and brought them closer to the burning chemical. The heat that radiated from the lava alone stung her arms, and she tried furiously to wretch her arms back, but Megatron held her body firmly. "Tell me where the solution is, and your appendages will be spared," Megatron threatened. Her body trembling with immense fear, Aulora slowly shook her head with refusal. "Alright then, you asked for it," Megatron smiled and with that, he plunged her small arms in the purple screamed in pain. The intense heat burned her skin and stung her arms with pain she had never felt before. Her arms quickly became numb with pain. Her screaming pleas were answered mere seconds later when Optimus plowed his body, with ever remaining strength he had, into Megatrons', forcing the tyrant to drop the small child onto the ground./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Her body still shaking with shock, Aulora turned to look at her arms, sprawled across the ground. The skin was a sickly red, some patches a light pink. Steam continued to rise from them. She looked up again to see a large grey jet flying away, her mind slowly remembering the Decepticons had the ability of flight. Why did her retreat? She was reminded, once again, of Optimus force of strength and persistence, and settled with the idea that the large leader had chase him away. Suddenly, she felt an incredibly smooth and warm material cup itself underneath her small body and ever so gently and slowly carry it up from the ground. Aulora could only stare breathless at the Autobot's leader's face, as he slowly unsheathed the battle mask gripped around his face. His eyes were no longer scrunched along the corners as they had been moments before. Now, at the moment, they were two, perfectly round circles of blue, completely still. His mouth, which she was not able to see before, was now slowly starting to part in the center, as if was going to say something. But the stars that danced along her vision slowly grew bigger and bigger, until her frenzied mind fell into a raw darkness of unconsciousness. - /p  
p class="MsoNormal" "So, how come you never mentioned her before?" she questioned, her pink highlighted ponytails bouncing in the air as she plopped herself down by a small boy with an orange sweater vest and spiked hair. Her feet playfully scraped against the side of the platform as she waited for her guardian to answer. The large green mech simply shrugged. "I guess we really didn't think it mattered," he answered. "What I don't get, is why Cliffjumper gave the solution to the human, and didn't even mention it to us," a small purple femme asked, leaning against the wall, her eyes scrunching with agitation. "Maybe he thought it would be safer with a human, someone he thought Megatron couldn't find. He was probably trying to protect you guys," a raven-haired boy answered, perched next to the small femme. "How is she doing anyway," A bright yellow mech asked from his seat on the ground. "She's resting now. She fell unconscious because of the lack of fresh air at the volcano," a white and red mech answered, looking temporarily up from a small control panel in front of him. "But how are her burns?" Raf asked, clearly worried. "I'm afraid of the possibility the reaction will never truly heal. The toxin within the Dark Energon is lethal to we, Cybertronians. I'm surprised it has not done more damage to our young human here," Ratchet answered./p  
p class="MsoNormal" The Autobot medic once again turned to peak at his fearless leader, a habit he had made within the hour. With arms crossed habitually across his chest, Optimus Prime stood in the entrance of one of the main hallways, the side of his body leaning ever so lightly upon its frame. His glance was still fixated upon the girl, as it had been every single time Ratchet had checked previously. He watched with a steady stare upon the young girl resting quietly upon a gurney, which had been for convenience reasons placed next to the large medical berth platform for Team Prime. But there was one detail about his leader that caused the old field medic to observe him once again. His battle mask had been activated. He remembered clearly from before, that as the Prime had gently and lovingly carried the human back through the ground bridge, cupped protectively in his grasp, his full face could be seen. His stoic, straight-lined mouth never wavered with emotion throughout the process, even when the young human grimaced with raw pain as June Darby had expertly bandage her burns, but the simple fact that the mask had been removed, put away, during that time suggested something deep to Ratchet. There was something larger toying around in his leader's rather dangerously occupied mind, something that gained all of his attention, even from infamous mask. And all because of Aulora. Ratchet was suddenly pulled from his deep thoughts at the sound of young Raf's voice. "Shouldn't we call her parents? You know, have some kind of cover story," he asked out loud. No one seemed to hear Jack mumble, "I don't even know who she's staying with now." Because the young Darby remembered Aulora as well, and he knew that the idea of "parents" or even "family" for that matter, was a little different in her case. /p 


	2. Fatal Presence

**Hi everybody!**

**Thank you so much to those who have read and even liked this piece! It means the world to me. I actually wasn't going to continue writing, but thanks to you I will. Sorry this chapter's a little shorter. It just sets the tone for the rest of the story and kinda irons out some unanswered questions. Thanks again. Enjoy! And please feel free to leave comments!**

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As I continued to wallow in my world of soft darkness, my tired body not completely ready to wake up, a single sound began to penetrate through. It was a…clicking. An incessant one at that. Sometimes it came in strings of patterns, than a long pause, sometimes followed by one single click or another rapid series of them. And despite the internal commands against the noise, it would not stop. I slowly pulled apart my eyelids, waiting a few seconds for my vision to focus. Slowly, the image of Ratchet's rigid body came into form, his fast-moving fingers the source of the clicking sounds. He was typing. He seemed to sense that I was awake and turned to me. It had been years since I had seen that face. Though he openly expressed a cold, relentless demeanor, it was moments such as these where his full face came into focus, and beneath the beautiful weathered age that painted his face, his wise eyes held that of concern, as they had 5 years ago. He waited patiently until my eyes were fully open and I began twisting my head around to take in my surroundings. "Good morning," he said, though from the sound of his voice it sounded more of a statement of information rather than a greeting. "Good morning," I replied, my voice scratchy with sleep and overuse. My continual screaming the other day at the volcano apparently didn't help my throat. Go figure. "How are you feeling?" he asked. Knowing the medic did not want a report on my mental state of being, I let my body relax to assess what exactly my body was feeling. "My throat's still a little sore, which was expected. My arms sting, also to be expected. All in all, ok I guess," I replied. The field medic nodded. "June Darby will be by later on in the evening to redress your burns," he informed. I remembered her kind smile from last night. But sadly, that was all I could remember about her. Last night was more of a hazy memory. I could remember what happened last night, but the images were harder to produce. It was as if I knew the script of the play but could not picture the characters. Just thinking about pictures made my head feel even groggier. A distinct, heavy force felt like it was resting on my brain like a pillow, and my head could not take the foreign mass. "You were placed on an oxygen machine due to the lack of fresh air at the site of the volcano, thus the lack of fresh oxygen traveling to your brain. Some agitation in your head is expected," he said, seeming to sense my distress. I weakly nodded, surprised by the pain that action alone seemed to cost me. And like prickly vines, sleep began to wordlessly entangle itself around my brain and then my eyes. I found it difficult to just keep them open. But I had just slept. I looked back up to the medic. I didn't want to sleep now. I was finally back with the Autobots, and the last thing I wanted to do was close my eyes and pass out for another 12 hours. I wanted to catch up with them, knowing a lot more has happened to them in 5 years than it probably has me. The simple vision of Ratchet alone seemed to fill my soul itself, refilling it with a vital source I had taken years to discover. I felt… at home. For once in a very long time, the feeling of acceptance and openness was overwhelming…daunting, but beautiful. But sleep seemed to already know it was victorious. I turned with already drooping eyes back up to the Cybertronian. "Ratchet, I apologize but I'm going to go back to sleep for a little while," I told him. His eyes suddenly stopped dead in scanning the page and turned full force to me. Confusion played vividly across his face. "…Of course Aulora. There's no need for repentance," he said, slowly stumbling over his response. He even offered a small smile as I nodded my thanks, pulled the blankets back over my head and let sleep do the rest.

He smiled to himself again as he was awesomely reminded of how much Aulora reminded him of Lorelei. Such a humble and kind-hearted soul, yet feisty and alive with life itself. Not only did her physical appearance mirror that of her aunt's, but Aulora's genuine personality was also an exact replica. It had only been 5 years since the last visit Lorelei and Aulora had made with Cliffjumper, and yet it felt like lifetimes ago. His heart suddenly sank in his chest as he turned back to the small girl. Who was going to tell her about Cliffjumper? He knew the young teenager had been fond of him years ago. And to think that was simply another death toll she would have to add to her growing list. His heart sunk even deeper within his chest as he replayed last night's late private meeting with Agent Fowler.

_"We thank you again for coming here," Optimus Prime said, calmly. The old Army Ranger gave a small nod of his head, turning to look at the small girl that had been moved to the kids' couch, swaddled fiercely with blankets. "When Ratchet told me she was back, I didn't believe it at first," he answered, watching as her chest slowly rose and fell under the mound of blankets. "Her return is a revelation for us as well. And it appears Megatron wasted no time in acquiring the frequency to access the serum bottle's homing beacon," Optimus noted, nodding slightly to the sleeping teen. The Prime turned back to Agent Fowler. "It would seem there is no longer need for your government's undercover scouts and their watch over Aulora, now that she is back once again under our watch," Optimus noted. Agent Fowler simply nodded again. "I am sorry to interject, but I was curious as to how wise it would be to remove the human undercover agents. The rest of the McAllister family will still need protection that we cannot continually provide," Ratchet added. Both Prime and agent turned to the medic with eyes riddled with sympathetic understanding. "Daniel, Rachel and Lorelei McAllister all passed away in a car accident 5 years ago. Aulora was the only one who walked out of there alive," the Autobot's liaison explained quietly, as if the louder the statement was made, the more troublesome it became. Ratchet's face scowled with perplexity. "That's impossible," he scoffed. But after turning to find his leader's saddened gaze, his mouth fell open slightly. "But…it can't be," he stammered. He turned back to his leader. "Why didn't you tell us?" he asked innocently, knowing whatever the reason, it was justified. "The secret remained between Cliffjumper, Agent Fowler and myself as to not discourage the rest of the team that our prescience within that of a human's life will always produce fatal consequences," Optimus gravely explained. "But it didn't…did it?" Ratchet asked. "We're still not entirely sure. The feds easily passed it off as a hit and run, but there may be more to it than that," Agent Fowler explained. _

Ratchet sighed as he turned back to the work at hand, work that was clear and fixable. But his mind turned back to Aulora. For her sake, he hoped that it was simply a "hit and run" as Agent Fowler had put it. It seemed…simpler that way. A human killing a human. For reasons unknown to the medic, death by that of the identical race seemed more natural and almost…forgiving than if another race, one as malevolent and malicious as the Decepticons, performed the same act.


	3. Trials of the Soul

**Hi readers!**

**The last two chapters were a little slow, but this will finally get the ball rolling! :) Thank you again to all those who had read my story and PLEASE do not hesitate to leave comments! I love them. Hope you guys like this one! **

**SPOILER: cliffhanger warning**

**PS: Every time I add a chapter to my story, it won't create a new post. It will just add it to my first post of the story. Can anyone help me?**

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"Aulora, for Primus's sake would you _please_ stop fidgeting! I can't run a full diagnostic scan on you if you are continually in motion!" he reprimanded peering down at the small child seated on his examination table, hands on hips.

If there was one thing the small child possessed it was the energy of the Twins…combined! She almost never listened to his medical advice, always up and about, never resting. There had come a moment during the past 3 days where the old medic had found his fingers wrapped around his always handy wrench, merely thoughts away from gripping it and smacking Aulora upside the head with it after she disobeyed his orders and had begun tossing a ball around with Miko. He inwardly cursed the twins, knowing if they had somehow joined the Allspark, this was their incarnate form. They would never leave him alone.

She plastered her legs hard against the table and turned up to the medic with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Ratchet…Just a little nervous," she answered. He hadn't even waited for her response, seeing as her attention was on him, he realized it would be a good a time as ever to scan her. Her curious eyes watched as he, quickly as possible, ran the green light over her body and held out his hand to stop her as he read the machine's report, already seeing her legs twitching to bolt away. "I hardly see the practical use in worrying yourself over the first day of academy," he scoffed, turning to the large, overhead screens as he relayed the results to them. "First, we call it school on Earth. Second, I'm just nervous. I haven't been to school in 5 years," she answered.

Ratchet's ears perked as he heard the small child wince with quiet pain as she slipped her sleeves back over her bandaged arms. He rolled his eyes. _Just as proud as Optimus_, he grumbled to himself. "So, am I clear to go?" she quipped. "Yes, yes, yes. Just please, by the Allspark, do not strain yourself. I still have yet to discover if the poison had caused any deep, neural damage," he explained, turning back to her. "Cool," she answered, already hopping off and grabbing her bag from the floor. "Yep, yep, yep. Optimus would like to speak with you before you head off to school," Ratchet informed. She turned up to him, her bright, blue eyes furrowing with confusion. She pointed to her chest with her finger. "Me?" she asked. Ratchet simply nodded. He watched comically as her body seemed to instantly tense and stiffen. "He should be coming back from the training room," he called back over his shoulder, already turning back to his work. He listened tentatively as stiff, quiet footsteps hesitantly stumbled away.

Optimus's audio receptors quickly alerted him to a sound coming from the west hallway. It resembled the pattern of footsteps, clearly a human's for their lack of weight, but why. According to his internal time screen, the human's school day would commence within the hour. They should all be at their houses, their guardians already on their way or just about to head out at that moment.

He passed the hallway back to his quarters and turned down the west main hallway to the main room as he listened closer to the footsteps, having being already able to decipher the kids' footstep patterns. These were lighter and nimbler than Jack's simple, steady foot-fall. It was much like Miko's, but these were rather gentle and graceful, a quality he was certain the Japanese teenager did not possess. And the feet themselves sounded to be carrying a somewhat taller being than Raf's. And as flash of warm brown rounded the corner ahead, Optimus realized that his deciphering was right; it was Aulora's.

She pulled her small pack higher over her back and gave him a small wave, which he responded to with a small nod of his head. She wanted to see him, or rather she knew he wanted to speak with her. She gazed with wide eyes up at the leader, once again awe-struck by the very power that seemed to radiate of off his body. She had encountered him once after the day at the volcano, and her nervousness had only allowed her a thanks to the Prime for saving her, who rewarded her with a small nod of acknowledgement and then he was off and gone. And whatever she tried, she could not get him out of her head. She was enthralled by this attribute he possessed that seemed to latch onto her. Whether it was his dedication, humbleness, wisdom, strength or leadership, she could not, for the life of her, place a finger on what exactly had her mind captured. She knew as a young girl, the stories Cliffjumper had told her about the mighty leader certainly entertained her to no end, but it was something about him, standing there looking at him, that raised that entertainment to…something else. Though his consistent patrols, missions, data logging and secluded drives did not leave the young teenager much time to find the rather solitude leader and find out just what had her mind's scratchy, agitated curiosity spinning, she was determined. She was going to find out, one way or another, why his mere eyes alone seemed to not only radiate with complete, immense power, but seemed to fill her empty soul with an unknown feeling of…she couldn't find the right words. Completion? Possibly, but the spot that he seemed to fill never made itself known to her, previously, that it was ever empty.

"Ratchet said you needed to talk to me?" she asked, with large eyes, with an almost unseen veil of intimidation, Optimus dually noted. The large distance between his face and hers suddenly became apparent and he kneeled down to one knee, knowing that information so…altering should be given as respectively and delicately as possible. "Yes, that is right. I wish to speak to you of Cliffjumper," Optimus started, watching as Aulora's face lit up at the sound of his name, her dimples scrunching into little bunches from her large smile. "Yeah, where is that all-knowing chatter box anyway? I can't believe he didn't wake me to say hello," she chuckled, looking expectantly up into his eyes.

He took an inward breath to reassure himself. You have dealt with worst situations, worse news than this, he instructed himself. Simple, direct, precise and clean. That's all it needs to be. No emotions. No regret, no remorse. Let them come to terms with it themselves. "Aulora, I am sorry to inform you that Cliffjumper has sadly passed away 2 years ago." He watched patiently as he let the truth horrifically hit the young girl's face. Her mouth and eyes were wide with confusion and a hint of fear in them. "Wait…what? That's…not possible," she stuttered, stumbling desperately over her words and thoughts. "Cliffjumper left his post to address a large signal of Energon that appeared approximately 2.5 clicks from his position. It was unknown to Cliffjumper, as well as to me, that it would be the first official, earthly Decepticon encounter. They had taken Cliffjumper off guard, and soon took him captive moments after. His signal went off-line shortly after," he explained, watching small drops of lubricant trickle delicately down her cheek, chin and splashing silently onto the cold ground.

She shook her head, as if desperately trying to tell herself that it wasn't true. She turned up to his patient eyes. "Do you know where Arcee is?" she asked, quietly. Optimus was thrown back by her question. Of all the questions grief had asked him years before, this was not one he had ever encountered. "If she has not left for Jackson yet, it is probable she still remains in the training room," he informed. And he watched, almost perplexed, as the young human walked past him and continued in the direction he had just come from.

Arcee was just sliding her thruster components back into her blaster as she heard the sound of small footsteps growing louder. She looked up to the doorway to see Aulora running into the room. "Aulora, what are you still doing here? I thought Bumblebee…" But she stopped mid-sentence as Aulora ran up to her ankle and tightly wrapped her arms around it.

"Uh, Aulora…you ok?" she asked, clearly confused why she was hugging her. She suddenly noticed tears along her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Arcee…to hear about Cliffjumper," she whispered. Arcee's gave a small smile in understanding, remembering Optimus had intended to break the news to her sometime today. She slowly came down on one knee and laid a comforting hand upon the human's back. "I know how close you two were," Aulora said, another tear falling from her scrunched eyes. Arcee continued to smile with sadness. She felt a large drop of liquid fall from her left optic, but she made no move to wipe it away. "Yeah, I know he was pretty fond of you too," Arcee said, her voice scratchy with emotion, pitying the broken heart below her. That earned another wave of tears from the young human.

"But you know what?" Arcee asked. Aulora slowly detached her head from Arcee's leg and looked up at her with wide eyes. "I bet he found plenty of souls in the Well to pester and talk about us to," she said. Aulora couldn't help but smile her lips and nod. "And do you know what?" Arcee bent her finger and raised Aulora's chin to look back up at her. "He probably wouldn't be too happy seeing us crying over him like this either," Arcee's voice wavering at the end as another tear fell from her eye. Aulora nodded firmly, lifting the neck of her shirt to wipe the tears away. Aulora let her arms fall limply back to her sides. "He was a good guy…wasn't he," Aulora commented. Arcee nodded her head. "The best," she answered. "I'm sorry again for your loss, Arcee…loosing Tailgate and Cliffjumper like that…If you ever need anybody…you know…I'm here," she said, looking back up into the Autobot's eyes. Arcee smiled and brought the human back into an embrace against her ankle.

The two never noticed their silent leader, concealed by the entrance's shadows. He couldn't help but feel almost surprised by the rare appearance of strength and grief coexisting in perfect balance. To see a young child, stricken with sorrow, build the strength to run and comfort those fairing worse than her came as a surprise to the wise Prime, humbly impressed.

She tried shrugging it off, but misery was used to her empty heart. It had grown comfortable in her spacious soul; a little too comfortable. It settled right back in like a welcomed guest, molding perfectly back into its usual mold. She was able to hide it, perk up for a few moments to give off the impression that she was overall, ok. Like every time she had to stand up in the front of the class and introduce herself, rhyming off her rehearsed summary and then quickly retreat back to her seat.

To come to terms with the fact that he was gone, that her first, true friend was never coming back…was almost impossible to imagine. He had been so real, so down to earth and so full of life that it seemed unfeasible that someone like him could just simply not exist anymore. To hear his laugh, his constant talking, his content sigh, or simply feel his head lights playful bump into the back of her legs was hard to walk away from. She knew she had to. She had done it so many times before. But…she didn't want to do it again. Especially for someone like Cliffjumper.

She trudged back to her locker to try and work its old rusty lock, knowing she had time before she had to go to her online class in the computer lab, another set of directions she probably had to ask around for. Her guide, a student ambassador and pep rally organizer, had bailed on her after first period. Jack had helped her find her afternoon classes during lunch, after she was thrilled to find that not only had the Autobot allies regrouped for lunch together but they had held a seat for her as well. She peaked out from behind her locker door, hoping to see his familiar face pop out from the retreating crowds of kids. She was so busy scoping out the throng of kids that she almost jumped through her skin when she felt a firm hand pat her on the shoulder.

She whipped around to find a guilty smile. "Sorry, Aulora. I didn't mean to spook yah," Jack said. "No it's ok. Just zoned out for a sec I guess," she replied. "So, what's your next class?" he asked, peeking down to look at her schedule clumped tightly in her hand. "Uh, I have online class," she answered, looking down at the schedule to double check. "Ah, cool, so do I," he answered, casually slipping his books into his other hand. Aulora nodded her thanks and closed her locker behind her, and walked with the raven –haired boy back down the hallway.

"So, how have classes been?" he asked, looking down at her, almost surprised to notice she was slightly smaller than Miko. "Just as boring as I remembered them to be," she replied with a small chuckle. "So were you like, home schooled before this?" Jack asked. "Yeah, my uncle had a private teacher, Mr. Dooley, that traveled with us on his business trips. He taught me Math, Science, and English and I'd have an online program teach me Spanish," she replied. "What was he like?" Jack asked as the duo rounded the corner to the stairs. Aulora shrugged. "He was blind, but a pretty sarcastic person at that. He was definitely a piece of work," she answered. "Kind of like Ratchet…except the blind part," Jack joked, holding the computer lab door open for Aulora. She smiled. "Well, he's blind to plenty of other things," she joked back. The two chuckled to themselves. They almost jumped out of their skin as the old, haggard monitor gave a loud "Sssshhhhhhh" from behind her desk.

She stared wide-eyed at the scene before her. She had only been gone a few moments to use the asylum's bathroom, leaving a quiet group of Jack, Miko and Raf, all taking turns with the 2-controller video game, with Ratchet glued to the ground bridge monitor. She returned to find a room now covered with raw Energon piles, scattered across the floor. Bulkhead was arguing with Ratchet, something about a faster getaway. Bumblebee was trying to get up from the ground, covered in Energon that had spilled on top of him when he slipped. He was calling over to Miko, Aulora able to gather the words "guitar chord" and "messy" from over Bulkhead and Ratchet's conversation. Jack was running down the stairs to Arcee, who was seated on top of a turned-over Energon cart, desperately trying to delicately pull a shard of rock that had lodged itself in the back of her leg. It was a madhouse.

And being the quiet girl that she was, Aulora was already starting to walk backwards, back towards the hallway she had just left. Anywhere away from the mess at hand. She turned around, ready to walk away, when she her body smacked hard into a surface in front of her, pushing her to the ground. "I apologize, Aulora. I was not aware you were in front of me. Are you alright?" Optimus asked, bending down to look over his fallen ally. She rubbed at her stinging head and smiled. "No, it's my fault Optimus. I should've been paying better attention," she answered.

He stretched out his hand, offering his finger to the young girl. She smiled her thanks and grabbed the tip of his index finger, greatly amazed how the metal seemed soft and warm to the touch, feeling not much like metal at all. He slowly pulled her up from the ground, but just as the human was righting herself back on her feet, the duo reeled back with surprise as a prickling shock of energy burst from their hands and traveled down their arms.

What happened following the shockwave terrified both leader and comrade.

With ear-piercing yells, Aulora collapsed on her knees, holding her head tightly in pain. She scrunched her eyelids tighter together as she continued to yell out in pain, her head burning like it had ignited with flames. It pounded as an intensity of voices crashed against the sides of her head and screamed in her ears.

**"You are a fool! How could you possibly believe yourself worthy?!"** _Aulora watched as her vision was clouded over by smoky atmosphere, scattered with large, gleaming towers. Suddenly they were eaten by flames and the towers turned a sickly red as they crumbled to the ground below. _

**"You have failed, Orion! You are a disgrace to the Matrix!" ** _Her vision went deathly black as her ears staggered in pain at the sound of a female's heart-wrenching scream of agony. Her voice was carried on waves of excruciating pain, as she called out for help, echoing across Aulora's head._

**"Cybertron is gone! You have failed all Cybertronians!" **_Her vision flashed back to a dark place, covered in smoke. Soon, the fog lifted to reveal the ground completely covered with Cybertronian bodies, their bodies and limbs twisted and mutalated. The ground beneath was now stained blue from their spilled Energon._

The voices continued to scream at her, as mind started playing scene after scene of what he finally realized to be a fallen Cybertron. Desolated cities, fallen soldiers…it was all Cybertron.

Optimus clenched his fingers and palms around his head, hoping something would stop the flashes of pictures that played across his brain…and the screams that tore across his ears.

**"Mom! Mom can you hear me!?" **_A wall of flames erupted across Optimus's vision, as he listened to a series of sharp coughs, almost able to smell the deathly smoke the voice was choking on._

**"Dad, are you ok? Dad, are you there!?" **_The voice continued to scream out in desperate agony as the flames grew higher and brighter. He suddenly realized a sharp pain in his leg, as a heavy weight seemed to be crushing it down to the ground._

**"Aunt Lorelei! Please, say something! ANYTHING!" **_This time the scream was excruciatingly loud, followed by loud sobs that ripped at Optimus's spark. The screams were filled with pain and helplessness, as they continued to call out, the heat of the fire now burning his skin. _

**"PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP THEM! THEY'RE GOING TO DIE! **

And just as quickly as the tormenting flashbacks had started, they quickly vanished from their victims, leaving Optimus and Aulora distorted with raw pain and fear. They slowly opened their eyes, opening their senses to the outside world. Their trampled and sore ears slowly detected Ratchet's voice beside them.

"Optimus, Aulora, can you hear me? Are you alright?" he continued to ask. Aulora remained on her knees heavily breathing, trying desperately to remedy her spastic heart. She could slowly pick up Raf and Jack's voice beside her, and then sensed a pair of hands on her shoulders, but her mind was still recuperating, still trying to desperately make sense of what had just happened; what had just mutilated her brain.

Optimus still hand one hand clasped tightly around the side of his head, slowly letting his brain fall back into place, back where it had been before. The pain had now subsides to a dull soreness, but nothing could change what he had just saw. What had he just saw? Though he had forgotten many memories over the years, he was certain those were not his. They didn't…feel like his. They were foreign.

And as Team Prime huddled desperately around their friends, trying to find out if they were alright, completely shocked by the scene they had just seen, Optimus and Aulora slowly peeled open their eyes and turned to look at each other, a solid, complete thought finally forming in their shattered minds. _They had been inside each others' heads._


	4. Mental Notes

Hi hi hi!

hope you enjoyed the last story, and hope you'll love this chapter even more (fingers crossed) :) so I have a little gift for you guys. I listen to music when I right these stories, and I thought it'd be cool to give you guys a small playlist of these songs. So each new chapter, I'll list a few new songs. Do what you want with them. I'm just hoping that for some, they broaden your musical taste to places its never traveled before.

And please don't forget to comment. Don't hesitate to leave me a playlist of your own. (I love music)

Playlist for "Mental Notes":

Footprints in the Sand: Leona Lewis

Bang Bang: Ariana Grande, Jesse J, and Nicki Minaj (little explicit)

Hello My Name Is: Matthew West

Wildfire: Sam Tsui

Somebody To You: The Vamps ft. Demi Lovato

Wavin' Flag: K'naan

Endlessly: The Cab

A Wink and a Smile:Harry Connick Jr.

* * *

"I…I don't know." Both Prime and human turned toward the stammering medic. "Look, I'm a trained field medic, not some mad-scientist! I wasn't even aware mental conversation was possible if it was not between the bond of a twin or a spark-mate," Ratchet explained, defensively waving his hands in front of him.

Optimus turned down to the small human who was perched rather perplexed upon the edge of the medical berth. Her rigid legs were pulled up to her chin as she rocked with uncertainty upon her heels. Her eyes were trained on the floor. She had never looked at him again. She had not said a word since the encounter. Truthfully, the young mech did not find himself remotely close to blaming her. He, at the present moment, did not feel at a great mood for conversation.

What was there to talk about? There was no word known to the Prime, Cybertronian or English, that could sum what had recently happened. It was a pain he had never experienced, accompanied by visions he had never dreamt he would see. Even after the incident, hours after Aulora and himself had immediately rested, completely exhausted and drained from the grueling experience, he could still see the images when he closed his eyes. The atmosphere would grow dark, and the flashbacks would continue, each varying in time, people, places and sound. If he did not concentrate on any voice around him, his ears would be violently plagued once more by the echo of screams and shouts…and cries. It was a nightmare he could not shake.

But whom he pitied was Aulora. What had she seen in his mind? He could not even fathom the depths his mind had taken her, and felt guilty for the pain and memories she could've uncovered.

But suddenly, what strangled his heart dry at that moment, was pure and utter fear. His mind, once a stable and guarded fortress, one that could never be shaken, had now been invaded. Secrets…memories he tucked delicately back under the folds of his immense mind were pushed so far back, he found even himself at times could not find them. But Aulora…may just have.

"I have never encountered anything like this in my life," Ratchet commented, rubbing his chin intensely as his eyes jumped from Aulora to Optimus, and then back again. He had never heard of such a feat performed between simple acquaintances, aside from the fact they were completely different species.

"I know of one possible theory, but under such circumstances, it deems it rather unlikely." The young human and medic both turned to look at the Autobot leader.

"What is it?" Ratchet asked.

"Alpha Trion did explain to me once, millennium ago, that among the 12 original Primes, suspicions were circulating of a possible traitor, many of them gathering around the Fallen, who was absent a great deal of the time," Optimus began.

"Prima, the leader of the 12 original Primes was made known to these suspicions and began to worry his orders and conversations amongst the other Primes would offer the defector knowledge that could be used against them. So, as a result, in a final effort to combat the possibility of a conspirator among the group, Prima created the Telonian connection. It created the effect of a split spark and mind, even greater a force than a telepathic bond, such as a spark-mate or twin would possess. He would share this connection with another well trusted Prime, in order to pass on his knowledge, somehow, to his followers without alerting the Fallen. He would also be able to watch his followers, who had broken off and started to construct a new civilization. The Prime was Alpha Trion, and the two were able to converse within their minds to each other, none of the other Primes ever possessing an inkling of what was commencing between the two. Of course their efforts were not only too late, but useless by that point, but the connection still withstood. But, as I said before, the circumstances at this moment would not stand in favor of the Telonian connection," Optimus explained.

"True, but it is the only logical explanation. You two clearly are not spark-mates, nor are you twins. It is possible, however, Optimus that you were bestowed the Telonian gift after receiving the Matrix of Leadership, which was previously owned by Prima. It's possible he programmed the ability through the Matrix…which would explain why you can use it now," Ratchet hypothesized.

"But how does it succeed in Aulora's mind. Mind you she does not possess a Matrix, nor is she a Cybertronian. She has an organic mind, one I cannot fathom the ability to possess a mental connection with biological technology, such as ourselves," Optimus asked.

Optimus and Ratchet were suddenly pulled from their deep conversation to the small human who was putting her arms up in surrender. "Look, I apologize for interrupting. I do appreciate you guys trying to figure this out…and everything, but if it means the same to you, I'm going to go home now," Aulora said, slowly slipping her completely worn out body off of the large, metal berth.

"I do agree that rest, at this moment, is best to alleviate the pain, but you still require a guardian to escort you home," Ratchet commented, arms folded with concern across his chest.

"I will accompany you home, Aulora," Optimus offered.

Aulora shook her hands in refusal, her eyes wide with fear.

"No, no. Thank you, Optimus…but, uhm…I'll just catch a ride with Arcee. I know she'll be heading out soon to drop Jack off," she responded quietly, her voice warbling with weariness. The young human suddenly no longer felt safe with the team's leader. No…she felt far from safe.

* * *

_"A Telonian connection!? I thought that ability died along with Prima?!"_

_"It appears it hasn't."_

_"And what of the young girl? How is she able to use it?" _

_"She is lying! She is hiding something of great importance! I was right to believe she wasn't trustworthy!"_

_"That doesn't matter! She doesn't deserve the Telonian connection! Such a prestigious and honorable gift…bestowed to an organic creature!?"_

_"He is right! A creation so magnificent is not worthy of a human child! This was a gift of the greatest of Primes!"_

_"We were not worthy enough for such a gift and suddenly a filthy pest is!? She cannot be trusted!"_

_"No, she is a traitor!"_

_"Yes, a traitor! She is manipulating Optimus!"_

_"She cannot be greater than we are! She must be stopped!"_

_"She is not a Prime, and thus does not belong in his mind!"_

_"She must be stopped!"_

Aulora awoke with a start, yelping in pain as her saliva-coated cheek was ripped horrifically from the tin can her head had been resting on. She gently massaged her sore cheek with one hand as she slowly collected herself up from the floor, the old newspapers crunching beneath her with every move. She remembered stumbling off of Arcee, back into her house, and had tossed about her bed for a solid hour. But fear overweighed the amount of sleep that had settled in her body; the fear of closing her eyes and watching, and hearing, those horrific images. So, she had settled with painting her living room walls as a nice 2 am project, and was prepping the area around the first wall when she must've fallen asleep.

She realized her paint brush was still clutched tightly in her grip and she slowly unlatched her fingers from it, letting it clang to the floor, the sound resonating throughout the bare, empty house. The echo seemed to penetrate to her soul, reverberating off of its numb walls.

That wasn't a nightmare. No, it was real. She had been inside Optimus's head. Those were the same voices she heard before. There were so many. So many different people…or Cybertronians, rather. So…she had dreamt about what was happening in Optimus's head. She took a mental note of that. Being that neither Optimus nor Ratchet could offer any solid diagnostic of this…mind-language, she realized it was up to her to make her own observations of it. So far, it had only happened when she had bumped into Optimus and when she was asleep. So maybe physical touch and sleep are maybe some type of focal points for the language; points where it has the most strength or something. Also, while her encounter into Optimus's thoughts had been painful the first time, it didn't hurt at all just moments before. It almost seemed…natural. So maybe, overall, it wasn't supposed to hurt. Maybe when she touched Optimus, the connection might've been…like…activated, and that's what hurt. Or maybe she just got lucky this one time, and every other encounter would be just as painful as the first.

She rubbed her still groggy head. How was she so relaxed about this? She couldn't understand how. An alien robot now had the opportunity to probe and prod every inch of her brain, and read every thought that was playing across her brain. That wasn't a normal puberty change. There was no instruction manual down at the bookstore, or an old retirement home resident who could relay their experiences to her. This had never happened before. Not even the aliens who created it could offer any solid explanations. That should be scaring her right now. It would have any other normal human going completely insane. Yet, there she sat on the empty, barren ground of her family room, listening as the dry, January wind howled against her windows and rattled her shutters, making a mental list of each detail of the mind-read.

She finally settled with the theory that the overall idea of having Optimus Prime in her head, and her in his, had not hit her yet. It scared her though of when it would.

* * *

The raven-haired boy slid into his seat, just as the overhead bell rang. He turned toward the front of the room and grumbled to himself, realizing there was no need to rush to his first class when Mr. Baxley, a sub loved dearly by the student body, would not only not bother with taking attendance, but would most likely stay seated in the desk's swivel chair, his large, thick rimmed glasses perched on his large nose, reading whatever science-fiction novel he had brought with him this class for the rest of the period. The rest of the class had realized this too, and were already flipping out their cell phones, talking amongst each other. He chuckled as he glanced over at his next door neighbor who appeared fast asleep, her head cuddled in her arms. He eyed her unoccupied black pen deviously and was already reaching over to grab it when her mumbled voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Don't even think about it, Jackson Darby," she grumbled, though with her usual, sweet voice.

"How do you know if I was going to do something bad?" he chuckled, slouching back in his chair to look at Aulora, as she slowly turned her head to him and opened her eyes.

"Because I know you, Jack. You're always up to something," she said, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, but just because I'm up to something doesn't mean it's always bad," he reasoned as he slowly produced a small, ice latte from behind his back. He laughed as Aulora's blood-shot eyes widened with pure excitement.

"You didn't," she gasped, immediately perking up as Jack pulled out a straw as well and poked it into the center.

He playfully shrugged. "I had to stop in and pick up my paycheck. Eddie, the new guy, screwed up on a latte and tried pawning it off on me because he couldn't get anyone to buy it," he answered, holding out the drink to her.

Aulora's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Screwed it up, how?" she asked warily.

"He used caramel instead of chocolate, and the customer wouldn't take it," he replied, handing the frigid drink to Aulora.

She took it, and closed her eyes in ecstasy as she took a large sip of the drink. "Jack Darby, you are my life-saver," she said, in between gulps.

His smile faded, and his eyes laced over with concern. "Another rough night, huh?" he asked.

She nodded. "I forgot how windy winter nights are out here in Jasper. Sounds like I have a pack of wolves outside my house," she joked.

That was a complete lie. Though the rest of the team had been slowly informed of Optimus and Aulora's new abilities over the past few days, the sympathetic glances from her team members, to Aulora's relief, never suspected her to have nightmares of Optimus's thoughts or memories. She knew if they did, she wouldn't be able to stand the pity they would constantly relish her with, as if she could bear it now. When asked how she was faring, which thankfully for her wasn't often, being that fact the subject itself was a little foreign and touchy to bring up, she simply shrugged it off, replying that other than that freak encounter, she hadn't heard or seen anything from Optimus's mind.

This reassured the team of the possibility that the encounter was simply that; freak.

But she knew she couldn't pull the off the lack-of-sleep for long. She always had nightmares. That, in itself, was not new to her. However, the complete deprivation of sleep was. Normally, she'd wake up covered in sweat and her heart beating straight forth from her chest. But she would just shake it off, sometimes grab a glass of water, untangle her sheets and fall right back to sleep. Not being able to close her eyes at night or rest her ears for fear of memories or thoughts so strong they surpassed her own…that was not only foreign, but unwelcomed. Though she continued to have her old nightmares, the ones she had before reuniting with Team Prime, Optimus's thoughts were now added to the mix, and her new mild case of insomnia continued.

Jack nodded with understanding. A few minutes of silence lapsed between the two Autobot allies as Aulora gracefully chugged the cool, sugary liquid.

"So, how do like Jasper High so far?" he asked. She shifted her eyes from the drink to look at him, and smiled.

"It's kind of funny to see everyone so much…bigger. They're still themselves, just in a taller body. Terry's still playing pranks against the teachers. Tracey's still wheelin'-and-dealin' goods. Only her inventory's upgraded from Sharpies to pot. And Vince is still…"

"Vince," Jack and Aulora finished simultaneously, laughing.

"Yeah, that big goof hasn't changed a bit," Jack responded, watching as the said red-haired bully began flicking paper airplanes over to the cheerleader group to get their attention.

"Some people never change," Aulora commented.

Jack turned to look over Aulora, who was already lost in her drink once again, and realized how true her words were. Though he had a brief encounter with the shy girl years ago, her timid, gentle demeanor had stayed with her over all of this time. She always spoke quietly, almost hesitant of the words that would fall from her mouth. She displayed a shy demeanor, shoulders very subtly scooped down and inward, as if to possibly hide herself from the outside world. Though she argued her hair was too messy to worry about continually fixing it, the young boy knew better. She was hiding behind her hair. It seemed that the less of her face was visible the safer she was. She was always gentle, the fact alone clearly present in her intoxicatingly pale blue eyes, swimming with a soothing calmness. She never grew angry, outwardly at least. If she was, she would display it as mild agitation and play it off as if she was simply joking. She always apologized after saying or doing something she feared, somehow, would offend anyone, which was quite often. However, underneath that tentative, apprehensive, shy personality, Aulora's soul shook fierce with astounding wisdom and compassion Jack was slowly starting to discover. She seemed to care deeply for everyone and everything, as if upon immediate introduction, they had already won the keys to her large and fluffy heart. The ideas that she was able to comprehend, and the advice she was always willing to share almost scared the tall dark-haired boy sometimes. He only believed people such as Optimus possessed knowledge such as that, and even then he was astounded at what the leader would voice sometimes.

And slowly, a smile formed on Jack's lips. It was clear she was a great addition to the team. With a hyper-active, spunky punk star and her strong willed, rough-and-tough dune bashing buddy, a young science genius/tech wizard and his equally young, protective, need-for-speed guardian, a plain, over-worked, mama's boy teenager and his go-to, front-liner motorcycle, a grouchy field medic with anger management problems and a solitude, all-powerful leader, it seemed Team Prime needed a down-to-earth, humble girl who would be able to keep all of them grounded when the time came.

* * *

She stared up at the large, now blue spot, almost a scary contrast to the blood red behind it. She leaned tiredly against the stacked cans of light, baby blue paint she had purchased at the local hard-ware store for the remainder of the house. She took another big gulp of Gatorade, a last-minute purchase she had also made at the hard-ware store before heading with Bumblebee back to her house, along with a thick, bright yellow, spiral notebook that was on the clearance rack for 50 cents. She was plagued with her mother's impulsive spending habits.

She smiled to herself, amusement playing in her heart as she remembered Bumblebee blaring through his radio stations, both of them singing haphazardly to any familiar song that blasted through his speakers. The young bot was a blast to hang out with, and through her new-found friendship with the young scout, she found herself befriending Raf as well. Though very intelligent, Raf was still a kid, and constantly reminded Aulora with his avid video game playing and cartoon watching, with the Autobot scout right by his side. They were the perfect duo.

She inspected her painting once more. She had almost finished the wall she had started last night. All that was left to do was to touch up the areas around the white crown-molding and the edges of the stairs, already eyeing up the royal blue paint tape sitting idly on the newspaper.

She shrugged; might as well. For the first time that night, she chanced a look down at her phone's clock. 1:30. Half of her mind yelled at her with astonishment, reprimanding her for staying up so late, and ordered her back up to her small cot in her room, not yet having purchased a bed, and to try and get some sleep. But the other half of her mind won as she reached down to unwrap the tape and began sticking it along the edges. What was she going to do…try and fall asleep? She laughed out loud to herself.

A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she reached over for the yellow notebook, grabbing the black pen from her backpack that she had seated right beside her, being practically the only thing she had unpacked. She opened the notebook to the first, clean sheet. She grabbed the pen and began to write.

**Theories of New Telepathy Abilities, Possibly a Telonian Connection? (See 2****nd**** page for summary)**

**-occurs uncontrollably and "naturally" when sleeping or upon physical touch (possibly the strong points for the connection)**

**-first occurrence: physical touch: head throb, eye and ear stinging, followed by flashes of images of Cybertron (most likely PTSD flashbacks) and multiple voices, one female voice in particular**

**-second occurrence: dreaming: no pain or agitation, a series of voices sounding as if they were conversing amongst each other, referring to Optimus as "Orion" and believe I am not worthy of this "language" nor am I trustworthy (it appears the voices are possibly jealous for their lack of opportunity with said mental connection)**

**-due to fear of reoccurring nightmares of these particular thoughts and voices, I have not had more than a 3 hour sleep, at night, in a few days (I find that sleeping during the day is easier than at night)**

**-no images, voices or memories have occurred during my daytime sleep (still have not assessed an explanation for that)**

**-still no solid explanation of why… **


	5. Food for Thought

**hi hi hi!**

**So thank you, thank you to those have been continuing to read my stories! Love yah all! **

**Sorry about this chapter. Not a lot of action, but all this section "The Fate of a Shooting Star: Unveiling the Impossible" is supposed to do is set up the backdrop for the continuing stories. This chapter will shed some more light on Aulora and Optimus's connection, and layout some possible allies and enemies Aulora will find later on in the series. **

**This is actually the last chapter for this section. For those who have favorite-ed me, or are just following my stories, keep your eyes out for "The Fate of a Shooting Star: It Comes Back to Haunt" That will be the next installment in this series. Be prepared! (spoiler alert: Iacon relics debut!)**

**Again, please don't hesitate to comment! I LOVE them! Even if it's just like "Hey, check out this song!" go ahead!**

**Playlist for "Food for Thought"**

**- Break Free:** Ariana Grande

**-Heartache Tonight:** Michael Buble

**-Bohemian Rhapsody:** Queen

**-Warrior:** Demi Lovato

**-Chandelier:** Sia

**-Red Lights:** Tiesto

**-Crazy Little Thing Called Love:** Michael Buble

* * *

"So whacha crammin' for Jack Rabbit?" Miko asked, bumping her shoulder into the pre-occupied teenager, as he continued to mouth the words on the page to himself, as the Autobot allies continued to make their way down the hallway.

"History," he spurted out quickly, never once removing his eyes from the review packet.

Aulora, Jack and Miko walked out of the main entrance, taking their usual spots along the front staircase, waiting for the small, navy school van to drop off Raf for the few math and computer classes he took at the high school in the afternoon. Miko stretched herself out on the wall lining the stair case, Aulora sat with a book perched in her hands, facing the road, while Jack leaned against the railing, eyes glued to the papers in front of him.

"Why worry about history, dude!? It's not like that stuff matters," Miko replied, leaning against the wall of the school with her hands crossed leisurely behind her head.

"I wanna graduate, Miko," Jack scoffed, finally look up from the papers in his hand to throw a glare at the 14 year old.

"Dude, you're only a sophomore! You can chill it!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, only to throw them lazily behind her head again.

"Well, I'd be able to "chill it" right now if someone hadn't decided to make a break through the 'bridge last night…again," Jack chastised, tightly gripping his loose papers as another gust of dry wind blew across the school.

"Why ya' blamin' me!? I didn't ask you to follow me!" Miko argued, jumping off of her seat on the staircase wall to face the 16 year old.

"What were we going to do?! Let you run straight out into the battlefield!? It's suicidal!" Jack exclaimed, letting his papers and hands fall to his sides as he too faced the spunky 8th grader.

"It's called snapping some pics, and last time I checked, that didn't require a babysitter," she snapped back at him, slowly closing the distance between the two.

"We're not babysitting you, we're making sure you don't go and get yourself hurt!" Jack threw back.

"Unless your name is Bulkhead or Optimus, you're not supposed to worry about my safety!" Miko exclaimed.

Aulora criss-crossed her legs and took another look around the front quad, internally releasing a breath when she found no possible spectators watching the two squabble, simply two empty soda cans that continued to patter along the sidewalk with each new gust of wind that whipped across the dry, brown lawn. The sky was pale grey, as it had been all month. It wasn't supposed to rain, not that it ever did. But the grey sky and dry wind was a normal winter in Jasper; gloomy. She turned her eyes back to her book, ready to delve back into her fantasy world of romance that she had been brutally ripped forth from after joining the two teenagers during lunch, reminded that Miko never stopped talking. It wasn't that the slash-monkey fan was full of herself, far from it actually. Normally, when she opened her mouth, it was either to praise her large guardian, ask somebody a question about themselves, or simply, loudly, announce the apparent "awesomeness" in any situation. She left no comment unspoken. And the shy Aulora was almost addicted to her courageousness, with admiration beyond words. And as Aulora scanned over another sentence in Nicholas Sparks' novel, she discovered that the argument behind her would not allow some peace to read.

"We're your friends, Miko! We're supposed to look out for each other!" Jack reasoned, feeling his point was helplessly falling to the ground.

"Ugh! You don't get it! Aulora, can you explain it better!?" Jack exclaimed, looking to the 15 year old still seated on the front steps for help. She looked up to the sidewalk and waited a few seconds before responding.

"The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others. However, you can't help people that don't want to be helped," the teen answered quietly.

Miko and Jack looked at the teenager, with faces scowled in complete and utter confusion.

"Albert Schweitzer and John Armstrong," Aulora added, believing their names would clarify the subject that seemed to be causing the silence of confusion.

Miko and Jack groaned out loud, Jack slapping a hand to his forehead.

"That didn't help, Aulora," Jack complained, shaking his head.

"What does that even mean!?" Miko asked.

The two watched the back of Aulora's shoulders as the slowly twitched up into a shrug.

"Just food for thought," she responded politely.

Miko and Jack moaned, simultaneously, out-loud, once more. If Jack was at a loss for words before, Aulora quotes had completely thrown him further off course. All three turned to the sound of tires screeching, as they watched the familiar van with faded, yellow writing, pull up alongside the front sidewalk, watching as Raf opened the door and climbed out of the passenger seat.

"Look, I know your Mom's over-protective, but that doesn't mean you have to be the warden around us, too," Miko added, turning back to her opponent, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"What does my Mom have anything to do with this!? You know what, forget it, Miko! Next time, I'll just let you run right into the line of fire and let you get blown to bits!" Jack furiously exclaimed.

"Fine!" Miko shouted.

"Fine!" Jack responded, just as loud.

And with that, the two stormed back into the school, Jack continuing straight down the main hallway, and Miko making a sharp left towards the music room, just as the final bell of lunch sounded overhead.

Aulora smiled out to the small 12 year old as he made his way to the front steps.

"What's wrong with Jack and Miko?" he asked, keeping step with Aulora as they turned to walk back into the school.

"Right now, Raf, there making you look as mature as an adult," she answered.

* * *

The young 30 year old looked out to her class in front of her, waiting and watching as her last statement settled in their minds, their emotions playing with deep concentration. She stood up and walked up to the front of her desk, where she let her tall, nimble body lean against it. She pulled her deep blue cardigan further over her chest and habitually folded her arms across her chest. A small smirk twitched across her evenly, perfectly sculpted facial features as her class turned towards her, waiting expectantly for her next statement. Trained ears, she remembered her mother calling them. Students with trained ears were good students, those who continually waited and watched for the teacher's commands, never falling stray from those set of orders. They did what they were told, and her mother reminded her to expect good things from them. But that was it; good things. If she was to expect great things, to be blessed with the chance to see a legend flourish before her eyes, it was the eyes she had to watch. Those with trained ears had trained eyes, always looking expectantly forward at the speaker before them. Those with ignorant ears had ignorant eyes, those were easy to distinguish as well. But it was the ears that were listening to her and their thoughts and the eyes that were filled with millions of other thoughts that her mother had reminded her where greatness was found.

And it was to Ms. Bishop's great and genuine surprise that her eyes fell upon a student, only one, who deemed to fit her mother's guidelines of greatness. She watched as said student's eyes stayed trained on her, but were filled with so much more than the subject at hand. They were wide and wonderful, over-pouring with curiosity, but painted ever so intricately with a burning fire of pure intelligence and understanding. She had the eyes of someone who had experienced everything, from the beginning of human civilization to every great war and every great victory, and back again. They looked as if they had already lived life once, and right now was…unexpected. Beneath everything her eyes held, there was one question Ms. Bishop could see written as clearly as the stack of idle essays on her desks; who am I. The young student, who had seemed to have sunken deeper into her back corner seat, was trying to figure out just what made her…her. She was completely intrigued by this student ever since she had started. Though she had only had the privilege of having her for a short week so far, Ms. Bishop knew that her mother was right; with eyes like that, the only thing to expect from this particular student was nothing short of greatness.

"With winter vacation arriving soon, I've decided to assign a project," Ms. Bishop started, smiling as she heard the accustomed chorus of moans and groans.

"Yes, yes I know how much you love projects, so I've decided to personalize this one a little more. As we read Charles Marlow's journey of self-discovery, I want you all to do a little self-reflecting as well. And so the theme for this project is simply "Who Am I?" In a well-written essay, of whatever format and style you want, I want you to write about you. Just you and everything about you. And hopefully, through these essays we'll be able to do a little self-discovery of our own," Ms. Bishop explained. She was followed quickly by the bell, and she watched with curiosity as her student, destined for greatness, waited patiently for everyone to exit. It didn't appear as if she was avoiding them, but rather she was simply…afraid of them. She was timid of these strong, free-thinking spirits.

"Aulora!"

Ms. Bishop turned to a small boy who had appeared at the doorway, waving to said student frantically, rushing her along. And Ms. Bishop turned and watched as the most beautiful of smiles lit up the young student's face at the sight of her small friend. Whatever the young boy meant to her, whatever their connection, the young student's smile held a deeper meaning than simple recognition. No, what she seemed to lack between herself and the rest of the class was evident in her friendship with this young boy. It was the state of belonging. Whatever she did with this small boy, whatever her life was like outside of the classroom, the teacher could tell it was big. Something she knew she herself couldn't comprehend. But that was ok. For now, all she expected was greatness.

* * *

"So are Bumblebee and I taking you home?" Raf asked as the pair made their way down the hallway, habitually leaning in and out of the way of incoming students, never seeming to notice the two walking right in their path.

"Yeah, I kind of got banned from Bulkhead," Aulora sheepishly replied, throwing the small boy a guilty smile.

"What!? What you do?" Raf asked, a large open grin spreading across his face, knowing it took a lot to irritate the large Wrecker.

"I uh…I turned on the classical music station on the way to school yesterday," she replied, with a small smile.

"No! Aulora, you didn't!? You pretty much just broke Bulkhead's one and only rule," Raf laughed, playfully slapping his forehead.

"I know but Frank Patrick's was doing a rendition of Mozart's Symphony 9 and I just had to tune in," she replied with a meek smile.

"Miko must've spontaneously combust," Raf replied, giggling.

"She was definitely on the verge," Aulora replied, which sent the young boy into another fit of laughter.

The two suddenly perked their eyes up at the sound of Raf's name. Their eyes fell upon a large, strongly built red- head, his face painted with intense freckles and his green eyes squinting with smug victory, as if he already knew he had captured the bird in the cage.

"Hey buddy," Vince said with fake innocence, throwing his arms around Raf and pulling him in tight, "how yah doin'?"

Aulora stared down nervously at the 12 year old as his face coated over with obvious fear, and he tried, with no success, to wiggle his way out of Vince's tight grip.

"So, I was wonderin' if I could have that math test of yours. I just couldn't study and I know my little genius here," he said, giving Raf a little shake beneath his grip, "got and A on it. So whadya say?" he asked, peering down at Raf's bulging eyes beneath his glasses. Raf timidly shook his head, his mouth not able to produce any words.

"No? See, that wasn't the answer I was lookin' for," Vince said, the phony innocence wiping clear from his voice, replaced with a threatening tone and equally dangerous eyes.

Vince suddenly stumbled back with surprise as the student who had been walking with Raf before quickly squeezed her way between the two. She wrapped her hand behind her and tightly gripped Raf's shoulder, making sure to keep him behind her as she looked up into the approaching bully's face. He was about as tall, but much bulkier than Jack, which made him all the more intimidating to the thin, 5' 2" girl. Vince's smug smile just grew bigger.

"Well, well, Aulora. Everyone said you had come back, but I just had to see it for myself," he answered, leaning with his hand stretched out to the lockers, bringing his face mere inches from Aulora's.

"Haven't change a bit now, have yah," he said, giving her a once over. Aulora suddenly yelped in surprise as Vince reached out to grab her wrist and slammed her against the lockers, his face right in front of hers, blocking her view of anything around her. She could feel tears welling up inside of her throat as his grip tightened around her wrist, his rough, strong fingers digging into her raw, burnt skin. Her red skin, wrinkled thoroughly with the Dark Energon burns, stung with intense pain beneath their bandages and jacket sleeve.

"Whyda' come back? Huh? I mean, I know you missed me but…why?" he asked sarcastically, his eyes zoning in on her squirming ones, trying to fixate their stare on something other than his face. Her mouth quivered with fear and intimidation, as she tried to weakly wiggle her arm out of his grip. Her eyes suddenly squinted with pain as he gripped her arms tighter against the locker.

"Came here to finally see your family's graves? I know you skipped out on their funeral," he whispered with cruel playfulness.

"Vince come on, we gotta get to class," one of his buddies called out behind him. He dropped his grip around Aulora's arm and stepped back from her, still keeping his eyes on her, still smiling smugly. Raf rushed up to her, as she crouched against the lockers, tentatively holding her arm and gently rubbing away the pain. He nodded his head to her and winked.

"See you around, McAllister," he called back, as he walked down the hallway, disappearing into the crowd. Raf and Aulora watched him until he disappeared, the mass of kids swallowing him back up into their folds and continuing on their routes to class, never once looking up to behold the bully and his shy victim, braced against lockers.

* * *

Optimus's eyes followed the characters of data that filled up the screen in front of him, following their calculated path from left to right, never looking up or around him. After reading and identifying the data, his rigid fingers quickly typed in a response, a note to himself for future references, and then he moved on to the next one. He kept his firm stance in front of the main computers, never outwardly displaying any signs of exhaustion, agitation or boredom as he continued to sift through the unorganized data the computer had collected over Team Prime's numerous excursions. He would leave a few notes if the team ever needed to relay back to the data. It was quiet afternoon, the team settling in for the evening after a few, grueling missions in an attempt to acquire more Energon, and the leader was left alone with himself, as Ratchet had been sifting through old medical stocks in the back storage closest for more supplies. And as his fingers flew once against over the key board, the young mech could not help but well up with the pleasure of familiarity, the easy memories of his life as an archivist swimming back to him. They were glorious days in the mech's eyes, truly living out his passion, surrounded by millions of data pads, files and written material, the act of writing itself long abandoned by the advancing society. His eyes saddened of the sheer length of time that had passed since Orion Pax's daily shifts at the Hall of Records. It seemed as if the memories themselves had belonged to a different mech. Optimus was simply watching from a far away perspective. And in a sense he was, being that Orion Pax was almost altogether abandoned after he received the Matrix of Leadership and gained the designation of Optimus Prime. But it was moments like these where the Autobot Leader couldn't help but mourn over the loss of simplicity and content in his life. Being Orion Pax was easy. Being Orion Pax was…being himself.

The young mech suddenly unclasped his gaze from the screen to let it travel down to his right arm. Beneath his armor, it suddenly felt as if small needles of fire had ignited all along his wrist and stopped a few feet short of his elbow joint. His optics were scrunched in complete bafflement as the pain began to intensify. But what startled him the most was an apparent weight that had settled upon his hands, almost directly above where the pain was flourishing. Amongst the pure agony, the grumbling mech was able to detect a certain shape to the weight. It was not all evenly proportioned over his arm, and it appeared neither was the burning discomfort. It concentrated under one large mass, and then spread out from the mass in 5 separate strings…like a servo and its digits. Someone was grabbing his arm, but of course another glance down at his limb solidified the idea that he must've been imagining something. But it felt so real. He could feel his own armor throb with an intense burning sensation, as if someone was tampering with a wound that had already started to heal. It felt as if they were ripping it back open. But, as swift as the pain had collided into his appendage, it slowly whispered away, washing the fire away to leave a dull ache. The confused leader stretched his arm out in front of him, checking over his preliminary body sensors to confirm that his body was functioning at moderate capacity, with no possible breach of any type of virus or infection.

So then, what? What had caused the horrible stinging sensation? For simply confirmation of…the young leader could not explain, he reached down and tentatively grazed his fingers over his forearm. It was there, as he had expected.

The Autobot leader was just about to turn around and find his trusted medic, and possibly inquire of his recent…episode, his feet already turning around in the other direction, when a thought so abrupt and heavy hit him, he was startled he had not thought of the possibility before.

His mind was _relaying_ that recent experience. It was transferring it from Aulora.

* * *

As the last period of the day ended, and the final bell had already resonated across Jasper High's halls, students were hurriedly grabbing their last remaining contents from their lockers and heading out to the courtyard all splitting up into their separate ways.

Suddenly, a brightly-dressed pink pig-tailed girl came sprinting down the science wall, catching herself as she slipped on the tile floor making a clumsy stop in front of her locker. She stood on her tip-toes, searching over the few scattered teenagers still in the high school, peering down the hallways for her friends, as her heavily beating chest began to catch up with itself. Taking another glance down the math wing, her eyes lit up with urgency, as she quickly beckoned a small spiked-hair boy, followed closely by a tall, raven-haired teenager, as they ran towards her.

"Come on, guys! Let's go!" she called out to them.

Raf stopped just beside Miko, hunching over to place his hands on his thighs as he slowly rested from his flight up the stairs. The raven boy turned to his attention to the main hallway as Aulora sprinted with incredible speed down the hallway, gracefully avoiding the loitering students scattered about the path. She came to an equally graceful stop, without a bead of sweat seen or hair out of place. It didn't even look like she had ran from the other side of the high school.

"Did you get Ratchet's call!?" she asked urgently, eyes wide with worry.

Raf gave a meager thumbs up to the girl, as he continued to pant.

"Yeah, we all got it," Jack confirmed, as he already seem to be making his way back down the math hallway. Aulora stood there puzzled, as she saw Miko and Raf start to hurriedly follow him.

"Wait! Where are you guys going?" she called out, jogging to catch up with them.

"You heard Ratchet. There's no one at base to pick us up, so we have to be bridged back to man the controls while we cover for Ratchet while he's out in the field," Raf explained.

"Ok, so then where are we going?" Aulora asked again, watching confused as the group made their way down the steps to the gymnasium.

"You know what I don't get? How Doc Bot's now got a ticket in on the action, but I don't! I can totally throw a better punch than he can!" Miko exclaimed demonstrating as she threw her hands into fists and dealt a few blows to the air directly above Raf's head. Jack threw Miko a quick glare as he held the boys' locker door open for the gang. Aulora stopped just before the entrance, watching with complete confusion as Miko leisurely walked straight in after Raf.

"Oh no! I'm not going in until someone tells me…" But Aulora's sentence was cut off as Miko shot her hand back, grabbed Aulora by the collar of her jacket and pulled her in. Jack took a few skeptical glances around the deserted hallway, before closing the door behind him.

The teenager smirked as he found Miko trying to desperately pull Aulora out from the entrance hallway to the main room of lockers, as she struggled to pull herself away from Miko's grasp, her eyes scrunched tight.

"Miko, there could be naked boys in there," Aulora argued.

"Aulora you're fine. They closed these locker rooms down a few years ago. There're new ones up beside the track field. That's the one the basketball and volleyball teams are using right now," Jack explained, gently pushing the wide-eyed teen into the dimly lit room. Before them were 4, thin benches arranged in a square, followed by 5 even rows of about a dozen lockers per row. The navy paint on the lockers was faded and chipped, and had been replaced by an array of spray paint colors, every inch of the walls and lockers seemingly covered with graffiti writing.

"Oh," Aulora simply stated, watching as the rest of the Autobot allies stopped in front of a locker in the first row that was covered with the red and black "uc" of "suck." However, as Aulora stepped closer, her eyes creased with shock as she spotted a small, red Autobot symbol that had been sloppily painted and smeared on the bottom right corner of the locker. Miko followed her eyes and proudly smiled.

"I painted that last month," she boasted, looking with pride on at the palm size symbol.

Jack opened the locker door, and Aulora couldn't help but gasp as the grey, metal surface lit up with the familiar swirling, electric waves of blues and greens. She watched as Raf climbed into the locker and disappeared into the ground bridge, closely followed by Miko, who made a daring leap from the ground into the bridge. Jack placed his hand out in front of him.

"After you," he said with an amusing smile, watching Aulora's fascination throughout the process. She climbed into the locker.

"Of course you guys have a secret locker," she laughed to herself, as she became swallowed up by the vortex. Jack followed, once again checking over his surroundings before closing the locker door behind him.

"What took you so long!? I am needed in the field, and you four decide to choose this particular moment to be slow." Aulora smiled as she could hear the medic's grumbling voice before the base had made it into her vision. When it did, she couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the field medic's hands crossed over his chest, sighing impatiently as Jack and Aulora finally made it through.

He quickly flipped a switch on the ground bridge controls, changing its designation to underground coordinates somewhere in the eastern section of Russia. He sped to the ground bridge, but stopped abruptly at its mouth, turning around to the humans with an accusing finger.

"If I contact base in a few clicks, and find out that every single one of you is not accounted for," he threatened, his eyes falling primarily on Miko and the newest member of their team, who had not yet experienced a mission first hand before, "I will see to it that you are tasked with chores that will make Cybertron's gladiatorial pits look appeasing." And with that Ratchet disappeared into the vortex, Raf shutting it down, already seated in the swivel chair by the main computers on the raised level.

"So do you guys do that all the time?" Aulora asked, letting her school sack slide off her shoulder onto the small, yellow arm chair.

"Just when the bots are too busy to man the ground bridge," Raf replied from his swivel chair.

"So what are they doing that made them call us in?" Jack asked, as he and Aulora stood by Raf to peer up at the large screens above them.

"It looks like an Energon deposit. But there's too many raw materials in the rock to get a clear reading where the signature is coming from," Raf answered.

"Which is probably why they needed Ratchet," Jack reasoned, leaning casually against the railing behind him.

Raf watched Aulora as she lowered herself into another swivel chair beside him, his eyes falling on her fingers as, with her concentration diverted elsewhere, she released their grip around the edges of her jacket sleeve, revealing the white bandages covering her palms and wrists, her burnt, fingers exposed. They horrific red, some patches slightly pinker. The skin looked wrinkled and weathered. Guilt slowly started to trickle into his unsettled stomach. He had done nothing to stop Vince. While he stood there, probably tearing apart Aulora's already damaged skin, Raf just rooted himself in place and stared open-mouthed at what was happening. He never made a run to grab a teacher, or tried pulling Vince away from the clearly terrified girl. She had protected him, and what was the thanks she got for it; a probably swollen, already burnt arm.

Suddenly, the trio turned to familiar electric gust of wind of the ground bridge.

"The team's done already?" Jack asked, turning to stare at the activated portal.

"They can't access the ground bridge from where they are. Only I can," Raf replied.

"Um guys…look." Jack and Raf followed Aulora's finger to a long rope that had been lassoed around the manual controls on the ground level, reaching to about 3 feet off the ground.

"Ugh, Miko!" Raf exclaimed. He turned back to the screen, trying to get a fix on her cell phone signal.

He turned back to the two with a small shake of his head. "Her signals distorted. The Cons are probably messing with the frequencies," he explained, shakily, his hands flying across the keyboard of his laptop.

"Then we have to go in there! Miko doesn't know what she's getting herself into," Aulora said, already running down the steps to the ground bridge. She stopped short when she heard no footsteps behind her. She turned back around to find Jack still perched on the second level railing.

"Jack, come on. Let's go," she beckoned up to him, but her heart suddenly fell when she saw him make no move to get up.

"No. I'm done. Every time we try and save her, we get hounded for it. She knew the risks going in, so she clearly is alright with taking them," he answered.

Aulora stood there for a moment, closely observing the 16 year old. Though his body was completely rooted in place, it was easy to tell that his eyes were glazed over with concern, but seemingly it was not enough to counter the grudge that still clung to his stomach. Aulora nodded firmly, confirming Jack's wishes. As she sped through the still open ground bridge, she turned her head back.

"Remember Jack, food for thought," she called back, just as she disappeared onto the other side, leaving Jack to sit with Raf, swimming deep within his own thoughts.

* * *

Miko frantically felt around the rough, jagged wall of the cave she had been cornered up against, hopelessly looking for the hidden levers or pulleys they put in caves like these in the movies. No such luck. She stood, completely frozen, looking up into the fiery red eyes of Decepticon drone, his blaster sizzling with energy. She watched helplessly as his large shadow loomed further and further over her, the Autobots nowhere in sight. The ground bridge had dumped her off in the center of a series of underground networks, each tunnel spurting off in different directions. As she made her way down a random tunnel, chosen from her methods of eannie meanie, she had bumped into a Decepticon trooper, and hastily turned back, running into yet another random tunnel, with the trooper close on her tail. Lucky her, she had picked the tunnel with the dead end.

She was tempted to scream, numerous times at that, but faced with the decision of being blasted to bits by a Con, or sitting down for another scornful lecture from Optimus, she readily chose her demise. Suddenly, something small tinged off of the back of the Con's head, causing the large giant to turn his attention from Miko to the disturbance behind him. Miko's eyes lit up with shock as she found Aulora feet behind the Cybertronian, her arm shooting into the air to grab the spinning boomerang, eyes squinted with determination.

She knew she had grabbed his attention. And with astounding speed, Aulora took off back out the tunnel, with the trooper stumbling shocked after her, continually leaning up against the sides of the tunnel to gains some bearings over his distorted vision. Not knowing what else to do at that moment, Miko caught up to the duo, running past the Decepticon, who still seemed to be dazed from the hit, and catching up to Aulora.

"Woah, dude, how did you do that!" she exclaimed.

"I'll explain later. For now, I was able to hit him where his sensitive, exposed audio receptor circuitry should be, which means we have about a 3 minutes before his audio receptors start functioning again and his optics stop fizzing out," Aulora explained.

She turned to the baffled Japanese girl beside her. "It's a trick I learned from Cliffjumper," she clarified, even quieter.

"We have to find our way out of this cave. The Cons are scrambling our phone signals, so we have to get away from them long enough for Raf to find us and bridge us back," Aulora explained, keeping a surprisingly steady voice as the two continued to run down the tunnel, finally making their way into the center of the tunnels.

"What now!?" Miko exclaimed, peering over her shoulder to keep an eye on the stumbling Decepticon.

Aulora frantically looked around the dozens of tunnel entries, each one looking the same as the other.

Suddenly, the two perked up at the sound of their voices. They turned to their left, to see Jack peering out from behind a tunnel entrance waving to them.

"Jack!?" they exclaimed, running over to him.

"Come on. The exit of the cave is this way!" he yelled, suddenly catching sight of the Decepticon trooper, whose eyes were slowly steadying out into their pulsing red glare. He waited until the two girls made it to him before taking off down the cave along with them.

"There it is!" Miko exclaimed, pointing to the circle of bright daylight ahead of them. The kids pushed themselves harder as they sprinted toward the sudden ground bridge opening before them. They hopped through it, closing them off to the gaining Decepticon.

Raf turned around from the screen to watch his friends slowly make it into base, apparent panic written all over his face.

"Raf, what is it?" Aulora asked.

"I'd better hear Jack, Miko and Aulora's voice in less than 10 nanoseconds or I'm bridging back to base!" Ratchet threatened, his booming voice causing the small boy to scrunch his face and cover his ears. Jack, Miko and Aulora turned to each other with wide eyes and quickly sprinted up the stairs.

"We're here, Doc Bot!" Miko exclaimed, collapsing on the couch as she let her body catch its breath.

"It's all good," Jack added, wiping the sweat that had collected on his forehead.

"Where have you been!? And why do you sound out of breath?" Ratchet asked, skeptically.

"We just came from a race around the base, Ratchet. I beat all of them, as expected," Aulora quickly supplied, shrugging her shoulders when she saw Jack's interested face.

"Mmm, very well. We've been able to restrain the Decepticon forces here, so now I can finally contact you. Raf, be prepared to bridge us back within the hour," the field medic instructed.

"Understood. Raf, over and out," the young boy replied, turning to watch as Miko sheepishly made her way to Jack.

"Hey, Jack," she started, eyes falling to her feet, "I was being an aft when I said those things before. You _are_ protective," she said, looking up to him, "but you're only trying to help us. So…I'm sorry," she apologized.

Jack sighed and turned to look at her. "And I'm sorry too. I didn't mean it about not caring if you got blown to bits. We were angry, and we said some stupid stuff," he said, extending his clenched fist out to the Japanese teenager.

"We cool?" he asked. She smiled and returned the first pump. "We're cool," she confirmed.

"And you!" she exclaimed, pointing to Aulora, her normal energetic adrenaline returning to her voice.

"Where in the world did you learn how to throw a boomerang like that!?" she exclaimed, Jack and Raf turning to the teenager with puzzled looks.

"Sydney, Australia," Aulora stated calmly.

"You should've seen her guys! First she snuck up on the Decepticon, then she…" And Miko began to trail off, retelling the exciting tale of Aulora's rescue, while Jack joined Aulora up against the railing.

"By the way thanks," he whispered to her. She turned to his with puzzled eyes.

"For what?" she whispered back.

"Your food for thought," he replied.

She gave him a small smile. "I learned from the best," she simply stated, Jack watching as her eyes detached themselves from the real world, falling under the magical spell of an old memory, as they glazed over in content. He let her have her peace.

* * *

She stretched herself out on her bare, kitchen island counter, letting her ankles and feel dangle off the other end. She listened for a few moments as her slippers scuffed against the edge of the counter, the sound echoing across her empty kitchen. The overhead light was on, brightly illuminating the kitchen, while the rest of the vacant house sat in idle darkness. She supported her head up on her bent arm, letting her fingers twiddle around with the black pen before they traveled down to her last set of notes and began writing:

**-01/27: strange occurrence: while local bully had cornered me and was inflicting pain, I was overcome with the strangest sensation of being watched (from inside head). Possible it didn't happen at all, but with a mind connection, nothing can be over-looked. **


End file.
